Wildcard
by Kitcat39
Summary: Clockwork sees the birth of a baby boy on a dreary and unassuming Friday, March 23rd, 1990 at 2:07 pm. This little Daniel Fenton is far from ordinary however, the poor child.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom**

Chapter One  
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Clockwork, the powerful and mysterious Lord of Time, wasn't doing anything important. He was just puttering around his tower and fixing himself some hot cider with half an eye on a screen showing the second Mongol attempt at invading Japan. He was just watching the tsunami hit the Mongolian fleet when a huge shockwave went through time itself.

Clockwork froze between forms, stuck as a gawky, pimply teenager for a moment before completing the transition from child to adult. Cradling the miraculously not dropped cup in both hands, he hurried over to a screen that was supposed to be showing the Congress of Vienna. Instead, it was showing the birth of a baby boy on Friday, March 23rd, 1990 at Elmbrook Memorial Hospital in Brookfield, Wisconsin at 2:07 pm.

It was a rather unassuming baby, rather ugly as newborns go and a bit squirmier than normal. However, Clockwork could feel the almost infinite number of timelines spiraling out into the cosmos simply because of this child's birth. This little boy, who was just now starting to cry, was positively destined to be significant. No matter what would happen to him, his name would be in the history books. Clockwork hadn't seen someone with such a head pounding number of timelines that promised greatness since Adolf Hitler.

This thought sobered up the time ghost. Just like Hitler, this little boy, who is being held by his dad for the first time, could rain war and devastation upon the earth. However, Clockwork reminded himself as the two parents argue over the baby's name, one of Hitler's possible futures was to be the greatest artist since Van Gogh, and another was to turn Germany into an almost utopian democracy.

Clockwork turned his attention to the screen again, sipping the still warm cider. This, he thought as the baby was named Daniel William Fenton, is going to be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom**

Chapter 2

About a decade and a half later, Clockwork was actually doing something important. A newly formed ghost, going by the oh-so-inventive name of Shade, had accidentally slipped through a portal that connected to Timbuktu during the reign of Sonni Ali. Shade, having the megalomania that is unfortunately common among ghosts, killed Sonni Ali and took his place on the throne, declaring herself Queen and Goddess. Because of that king's historical significance, Clockwork had to go back in time, retrieve the surprisingly powerful ghost, and set the timeline to rights, all while enduring the Observants' endless nitpicky griping.

He had just gotten back from handing over Shade to the Observants' court, already thinking about which part of history he should watch, when another shockwave went through time, this one even bigger than the last. He managed to shift form completely before it hit him this time though, because getting caught between ages was extremely unpleasant, to put it mildly. He heaved a sigh of relief, but then a huge ripple flew through the Ghost Zone's semi-liquid atmosphere and slammed him face first on to the floor.

Clockwork hissed a few Aztec curse words as he hauled himself up. He turned sharply to a screen that was set to show the first Volkswagen Beetle being built, but was now showing the basement of Fentonworks, Amity Park, Illinois, on Wednesday, September 15, 2004 at 4:39 pm. Clockwork couldn't help but gape a little at what he saw. There was Daniel William Fenton, just 5 months, 23 days, 2 hours, and 22 minutes after his 14th birthday, as a fully formed ghost.

Clockwork felt a twinge of sadness at this, oddly enough, but shrugged it off quickly. Dead children weren't all that uncommon in the Ghost Zone, so this was nothing exceptional. He was just about to set the screen to something more cheerful, like the discovery of the polio vaccine, but then two things happened. One, he noticed the fully functional and stable artificial ghost portal in the background, something that had never happened before. Two, Daniel transformed into a living, breathing human, which had happened before but was much more shocking.

Though humans had been opening up unstable temporary portals for centuries, there had been only one halfa created so far, and he was boring, temporally speaking. Vladimir Ahab Masters was destined to become evil in almost every timeline where he didn't die before the age of twenty. However, this new halfa had so much variety to all of his possible timelines. In some he becomes an astronaut like he'd always dreamed of. In many he turns out to be an ambassador between the dead and the living, ushering in an era of peace and prosperity throughout both realms. However, in a disturbingly large amount of timelines he essentially destroys the world and builds it in in his own twisted image.

All of these possibilities vied for attention in Clockwork's head, giving him a headache the likes of which he hadn't felt since WWII. He almost was tempted to just step in and obliterate the child from existence to save the entire world a massive amount of trouble. The Observants were already having a giant collective hissy fit from the limited view they were given of the boy's future. However, the risks of destruction seemed to be vastly outnumbered by the most beautiful timelines Clockwork ever had the privilege to see. Besides, being the Lord of Time is boring, and Daniel promised to be much more interesting than expected.


End file.
